Orthodox priest is a healer in Sweden

His Eminence Metropolitan Cleopas of Sweden and All Scandinavia arrived in Jönköping, on Saturday afternoon, May 19, 2018, on occasion of the feast of the Sts. Constantine and Helen parish.

The parish priest Rev. Presbyter Nicholas Rigas, the Very. Rev. Archimandrite Alexandros Loukatos, parish priest of the Metropolitan Church of the Annunciation in Oslo, Norway and the Rev. Protopresbyter Fr. John Nikolaidis, parish priest of the Church of the Entry of the Theotokos into the Temple in Borås, Sweden were on hand to welcome him.

Fr. Nicholas, who works as a doctor at a local area hospital, specialising in nephrology, was ordained by Metropolitan Cleopas as a deacon and then presbyter two years ago, offering his ministry as the parish priest of the newly established parish of Sts. Constantine and Helen on a volunteer basis.

During this time, he has embraced the faithful living in the wider area and has undertaken many ecclesiastical and cultural initiatives catering to faithful of all ages. He is fluent in four languages: Greek, English, Swedish, and Romanian. Fr. Nicholas is married to Presbytera Anna, a paediatrician, and the couple has one son, Philip.

Metropolitan Cleopas presided over the Service of Great Vespers in honour of the saints being commemorated and was joined by the aforementioned clergymen. Fr. Alexander Loukatos delivered the sermon and spoke about the contribution of St. Constantine and his mother St. Helen, who are honoured by the Church as equal-to-the-Apostles, to the development of the Christian faith, in conjunction with the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea.